This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II research project will address the continued development of a novel sensor to enable form and finish of complex microscale structures as well as extend the technology to larger parts requiring three dimensional surface profilometry. The company is partnering with a global leader in the metrology industry to adapt this sensor and the corresponding gauging technology to their coordinate measuring machine. The culmination of this work will be a capstone industry specific demonstration on a new three dimensional surface profiler.
The broader impact of this research is the ability to provide a measurement capability not currently possible in one tool. Form and surface finish are inseparable in manufacturing and significantly impact functionality of a component in industries ranging from medical implant (for orthopedic bearing surfaces) to automotive (crank shafts or injector spray holes). Product reliability in these applications depends on the quality of the subcomponents and mating parts which is defined by the capability of the measurement technology. This measurement tool will provide a new measurement capability that will ultimately give better understanding of the manufacturing process and therefore the ability to make a higher quality and safer product.
The demand for new and more capable micro and nanoscale measurement products has been driven by the increasing miniaturization of components across a wide range of products and industries including: medical implants, turbine blades, electronics manufacturing, optics manufacturing, aerospace, diesel injector nozzles and many more. Manufacturing reliable products requires the ability to measure features at the micro or nanoscale and this demand will continue to grow as processes continue to miniaturize. Existing measurement technologies are unable to meet the current and future micrometrology needs in these industries / devices. Specifically, they suffer several critical deficiencies: Limited in their ability to measure deep narrow features such as holes, channels, gears, etc. Currently, 3D metrology is nonexistent in the micro to nanoscale. Therefore, current technologies are considered 2½D measurements. Multiple tools are required to measure form, waviness, and roughness. No company supplies a single tool capable of performing all three types of measurements. Complete inability to measure some very small scale parts and features. These deficiencies create a market opportunity that InsituTec is addressing with a patented and proven measurement sensor called MicroTouch and multi-axis scanning head called AccuSurf 3D gauge head. InsituTec’s MicroTouch sensor combined with the AccuSurf 3D provides the ability to make unprecedented 3D measurements on micro and nanoscale features with nanometer level precision. It eliminates the deficiencies in current measurement products referenced above. Specifically, this technology provides: True 3 D measurements. The ability to measure surface texture, form, and parts dimension in one data set. The ability to measure attributes previously impossible with existing technology. The focus of Phase II award is on developing a state of the art gauging technology that is adaptable to high end precision coordinate measuring machine. The complete system will be capable of measuring surface texture, form, and parts dimension. InsituTec’s MicroTouch and AccuSurf products will enable 3 distinctly different measurements to be made on one measuring machine, eliminating the need for multiple tools. Project Outcomes The research focused on a novel 3D measurement capability for microscale manufacturing. Intellectual merits included developing novel processes for a nonlinear resonating sensor, an inspection head to expand multi-dimensional scanning capability of microscale parts, and development of a high speed digital controller. These research programs were sponsored through this agency to financially aid the company to develop their measurement technology for the metrology industry. Research focusing on nonlinear resonating sensor developed a unique proprietary process to enhance manufacturing yield, increase production, and manufacturer more reliable sensors. This work was very successful and researchers are now exploring these unique processes for smaller sensors as well as using the same processes for sensor production. The second program focused efforts on a novel inspection head using nano automation combining a 2 axis nanopositioner and a high precision rotary axis spindle. The primary focus was to develop the mechanical head to rotate and scan in a two dimensional plane and error compensate the nonlinear sensor with 10 nanometer accuracy in a multi-dimensional field. Finally, a digital controller was also developed along with novel algorithms for signal conditioning sensors, controlling a measuring machine, and controlling the inspection head. The controller was developed and integrated successfully with the nonlinear sensors and mechanical inspection heads. Outcome Summary This award spanned a 36 month period, including phase I and II. The phase I sought to develop multi-dimensional inspection of microscale parts based around our novel and patented standing wave sensor technology. We demonstrated that a 1D sensor could be more successfully used as a multi-dimensional measuring tool by adapted it to a multi-dimensional nano automation gauge head which could scan and guide the sensor along a programmed trajectory. We then partnered with Carl Zeiss a leader in the metrology industry for the Phase II effort. Zeiss provided a measuring machine test bed over a 2 year span and we integrated our scanning technology to the machine. In addition, Zeiss provided engineering expertise during this integration phase. Over the 2 year effort, researchers were able to significantly improve the scanning technology to measure complex parts through a measurement service in several industries including automotive, medical, telecommunications, and defense. These industries represent a broad spectrum and we have early adopters of the technology. The research demonstrated a first to be able to measure surface finish of microscale parts, measure sidewalls of deep microscale cavities, and perform high speed scans. We now offer inspection heads based around this developed technology and working with early adopters in several industries.
